Libby Ramsden, 25, and her partner, Ollie Blackwell, 26, made the switch to a fully off-grid life and say they have no regrets
A couple who ditched their day jobs to live off-grid in a static caravan say it costs them just £8.87 a day and has improved their relationship. Libby Ramsden, 25, and her partner, Ollie Blackwell, 26, decided to embrace an entirely off-grid lifestyle in September 2023 to save money and focus on their soap business.
They claim their daily living expenses are now just £8.87, or around £270 a month – including rent, council tax and heating. The pair live completely off-grid – without TV or WiFi – collecting rainwater, using a log burner for heat and powering their home with a tractor-driven generator.
Previously, Libby was earning £24,000 as a laboratory assistant, while Ollie was a farmer and tractor mechanic bringing in £20,000 annually. The duo desired their own space and lower living costs than the average rent and bills of £1,000-a-month in their area – to enable them to kickstart their company.
Libby, a business owner from Silsden, West Yorkshire, said: “The best part is not relying on anybody at all. Nobody dictates to us what our electric bills are, we are not tied to any contracts in any way. We rely on ourselves. It’s just the freedom to live how we want to live.”
Before embracing the off-grid lifestyle, both were living in regular houses with their parents, paying them rent, and wanted to move in together cheaply. The idea came after their goat’s milk soap and honey business, Herd and Hive, started to grow rapidly.
Libby began creating goats’ milk soap after receiving a goat called Mary from a neighbour – whilst her father, Matthew, 53, took up beekeeping as a pastime. When they combined the two products at a market, they sold out completely and demand continued to grow.
Six months later they required someone working full-time in the venture and living cheaply was the only way to make it viable. Ollie’s father, Terry, 60, a farmer, offered to rent a plot of land to them and they purchased a static caravan for £11,000 – establishing it off-grid.
They gather rainwater from a barn roof, filter it for the caravan and their livestock and operate a tractor-powered generator for an hour each evening to cook, wash and charge mobile phones. Heating and cooking are managed with a log burner.
The pair are soon hoping to fit solar panels to cut costs even more. As they pay council tax, they receive regular bin collections and Ollie excavated a septic tank so the couple have a flushing loo.
Libby said: “People think that because we live off-grid we are not connected to the world in any way or we live uncomfortably. People think that we go to the toilet in a bucket and carry it out.”
The operating costs of their distinctive off-grid dwelling are merely £8.87 daily, totalling approximately £270 monthly.
Libby said: “Before we moved we looked at renting, or getting a mortgage for a house and in the area that we live you’re looking at anything up to £1,000 a month. It was a no-brainer if we wanted to quit our jobs.”
Their day begins at 5.30am milking goats, feeding sheep and caring for five rehomed donkeys before heading to their unit to make soap, jar honey and tend to bees. Come evening, they return to feed the animals again, light the fire and run the generator for an hour before switching it off for the night.
Libby said: “Most people in the evening will sit down and watch TV, we’re not in that routine, so we feel a little bit more connected to each other. We have a better relationship because we actually sit and talk in the evening.
“It’s definitely improved our relationship, we feel more connected to each other than if we had a lot more distractions in our lives. We don’t have a TV, so we generally read or keep each other company by talking. People love that we have no TV and no WiFi.”
However, the pair occasionally long for modern conveniences.
Libby said: “Sometimes I miss the ease of being able to flip a light switch on or plug your phone into charge, that type of thing. Just the ease of things. Sometimes in winter I miss it when you’ve had a hard day, but the benefits definitely outweigh it.”
Winter proves the most challenging period – the caravan sits atop a blustery hill and staying warm becomes a struggle – yet the couple are determined to remain off-grid permanently, eventually upgrading to a wooden chalet.
“We do see ourselves living off grid forever,” Libby said. “We don’t want to go back to living in a house and having bills to pay, but we definitely want to improve our off-grid life.”
You can follow their off-grid journey on TikTok @herdandhive
The couple’s monthly costs before
Board to parents – £100
Food – £200
Total – £300
The couple’s monthly costs now they’re off grid
Land rent – £166
Council tax – £83
Tractor fuel – £20
Logs – £0
Rainwater – £0
Total – £269
Average costs for ‘regular’ living in the area
Rent – £755
Bills – £200
Council tax – £83
Total – £1,083
